Way of the Knights

Chapter 650: Pseudo to True

“A total of 228 Avatars for the 7th level [Myriad Incarnations Scripture], I also reached the 7th level for the [Voidwalking Manual]. Nice…”

Raven looked at the crowd of his look-alikes in satisfaction. After confirming that every single one of his Avatars were created with no flaws and could function just as well as previous once, he immediately had them join the others in order to help with current tasks. 

“With them, the amount of Enlightenment I’ll receive on a frequent basis will surely skyrocket. They could also help me create more techniques that I can use to defeat my enemies.”

“And thanks to the Voidwalker’s physique, If things go awry, I could always return back in time to prepare myself for it. At most, I could go is three years to the past, or future. That’s incredible. How the hell did Master Geezer found these techniques anyway?” 

Raven could only shake his head and smile wryly. He knew that asking this question is won’t be of any help since Geezer is nowhere to be found but he just can’t help but wonder sometimes. 

For someone who’s reached Divinity Realm in cultivation and could easily part with heaven-defying techniques, it was truly a mystery just what kind of place could trap Geezer a long time. 

Raven sighed and said: “Whatever, I’m not nearly strong enough to know those things anyways. I’ll just have to focus on cultivating right now.”

Reaching this conclusion, Raven returned to the spot where he could test out his newly created techniques. Leaving behind the avatars to deepen their understanding about laws for him. 

He decided that since there’s only four months left for him to stay here for now, he’d best focus on training and re-affirming his knowledge of the basics. 

Upon reaching the empty field, Raven removed the upper part of his training robes, allowing it to fall to his sides. He then tightened his belt and clenched his muscles, holding it for a few seconds before relaxing. After that, he stretched and regulated his breathing, he made sure that his blood flow was active and his body was properly warmed-up so that he won’t injure himself. 

After warming-up, Raven went into a boxing stance. His mind was focused on a single devotion, which is to revisit his basics and make his body remember the benefits of it all over again. 

*Pa!*

A crisp and sonorous sound of his fist sounded when he threw a punch. The air in front of him howled and caused a shockwave to ensue. However, contrary to what he just displayed, Raven wasn’t actively trying to use his strength with his punches, he’s more focused on the intent of the technique. He wasn’t brute-forcing his way out of this training, each fist he threw was laced with a sharp intent and a fueled by a singular thought. That is why the effect was happening every time he threw out a punch. 

Raven wasn’t in a hurry. Each punch he delivered gives off an impression of being slow and methodical, yet for some unknown reason, to the eyes of an enemy it was done in a blinding speed making it impossible to track by the naked eye. 

Additionally, as more time passes, the destructive effect on each punch of Raven rises exponentially as well. Past the one hour mark on his ‘back to basics’ training, his punch was even twisting the time and space around him. It even reached the point where Raven doesn’t even look he was punching anymore, it was as if he’s just standing there in a boxing stance and the area in front of him will just experience devastation all of a sudden. 

Raven threw out punches for five hours straight without resting even once, his entire body was gleaming with swear but his expression remained calm and collected, he didn’t even look tired. After that, he took a brief rest, rehydrating himself and eating a light meal. His break lasted for an hour before he stood up again and went back to training.

This time, he performed kicks instead of punches. Just like the beginning, he started out slow. He focused on the technique, form and intent, not on brute-strength. Gradually, his speed started increasing but Raven paid it no mind. He whole-heartedly focus on his inner mantra and the rest followed. 

Scenes of mass destruction occurred as he delivered swift kicks unable to be tracked with the naked eye. Each kick distorted the very fabrics of space itself, causing his surroundings to be chaotic. Once again, it reached the point where he doesn’t even look like he’s performing a kick anymore since it was happening so fast.

This went on for another five hours straight before Raven stopped once again. However this time, he didn’t rest. Instead, he just stood in place like a statue with his eyes closed. 

If one looked closely, Raven would appear as if he wasn’t even breathing anymore. Yet even just by standing there, everyone will be afraid to approach him simply due to the domineering pressure he was exuding. 

Raven’s aura was akin to a literal God Beast. Even by doing nothing, the pressure he was emitting was horrifying to those who were unfortunate to experience it. Raven usually kept this aura at bay and would only expose it when he’s royally pissed but in here, he could let loose and allow his murderous spirit run wild. 

This aura was something Raven cultivated for two lifetimes, the previous one where he was a lone wolf and experienced the worst tribulations of his life leaving him numb and cold blooded, as well as the current one where he definitely had it a little bit easier but the peace just allowed his murderous aspect marinate within him and be more controlled. 

Compared to his previous life, the amount of people he killed would just amount to a mere fraction of how many he slaughtered back then. Raven was once a notorious criminal wandering the Divine Realm. He made enemies everywhere and he was hunted down like a rabid dog. 

Sometimes, he would encounter enemies that he would battle for straight-up days, the longest was two weeks of non-stop chaos. Raven lost count on how many times he fled for his dear life since the one hunting him down was way too strong for him to defeat, there were time were he fought like a caged-animal. And there were times where he wiped out clans and bloodlines for revenge. 

All of those accumulated a spirit that could terrify even the oldest living fossil in the Divine Realm. The Dawn Council itself almost died due to how many times he caused them to cough-out blood from sheer stress and anger. 

He was hated, despised and feared, yet when thing mattered the most, Raven didn’t hesitate to lend them their aid. He, who once was considered as the most horrifying criminal walking the planes of the Divine Realm, died as a hero, only to experience a second chance where he could correct all of his mistakes. 

Sometimes, Raven would often find himself re-living the scenes of his previous life. Sometimes he would even dream about it. Then he will wake up, disoriented since he was surrounded with a relatively peaceful environment, something that will never happen if he was in his previous life. 

This is why Raven works so hard in this lifetime. As someone who never experienced peace after leaving his homeland, he wanted this peace to last. He didn’t want the things that occurred in the past of occur to him nor his loved-ones. Even if it means that he had to sacrifice his life for it, he would gladly do so. 

And if the killing intent he accumulated in his previous life will help him achieve the things he wanted for this lifetime, why would he discard it? 

Moments later, Raven opened his eyes and his killing intent subsided. He released a breath of relief and his attention gathered to what’s happening in front of him. By then, a frown appeared on his face. 

For some reason, he could feel that something dark and ominous was being released out of his body. The world was black and white for some reason and additionally, despite his active intent of retracting his killing intent he’s still releasing a deadly one causing the temperature to drop down to a frightening degree. 

“Is this…” Raven was stunned. His frown deepened as he tried to interact with his surroundings. And for some reason, the moment he took a step forward, he could feel everything around him trembling in fear.

“Well I’ll be…” A chuckle escaped Raven’s lips. But due to his frowning expression, his chuckle sounded more like a derisive snort instead. “The True Slaughter Intent/Domain. Now how the hell did this happen?” 

Raven was puzzled, the only thing that he could use to justify this unexpected gain was the fact that he recalled how much slaughter he caused on his previous life. As for how it affected his current life, allowing his pseudo-Slaughter Intent to evolve to a genuine one, he has no idea.

“Well, whatever I guess. Things like this had always been a mystery since the beginning of time. I’d just grow insane if I try to make some sense out of it. For now, a meal. I’m hungry.” 

Raven made an active effort to retract his Slaughter Domain to which he succeeded, then he returned to his tent to indulge on his food.